Molded brake lining



Oct. 31, 1933. ABERT r AL 1,932,919

MOLDED BRAKE LINING Filed July 8, 1929 Q W2 IEVENIORS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOLDED BRAKE LINING Hamilton Abert, New York, N. Y., and Albert Whitelaw, Passaic, N. J., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., Passaic, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application July 8, 1929. Serial Np. 376,639 Claims. (01. 188-250) Our invention relates to a material which is side is put under tension and the inner side usable particularly as a lining for the brakes under compression with the result that the outer of automobiles. surface, even if it has been previously ground One of our objects is to produce a strip of perfectly flat and true, as it should be, is de- 5 brake lining with a circumferentially-continuous, formed transversely of the strip .and thus de- 60 homogenous, unwoven, hard and smooth outer velops high spots along its edges which prevent brakin surface and which is of such shape and the brakes being set with the proper clearance characteristics that a repair shop will be able between the brake lining and the drum. This to fit most sizes of standard brake drums with defect has been commonly avoided by molding a dense hard-surfaced lining without having to the desired hard-surfaced, dense-structured mac5 carry in stock the many different curvatures terial into such lengths and with. such perand engths now necessary. manent curvatures as will fit various sizes of A brake lining for internal brakes, in order brake drums. But this requires a repair shop to, to give long wear and maintain a uniform cokeep in stock the various lengths and curvaefficient of friction while wearing through its tures required. This ties up much capital, not 70 usable thickness, should be relatively hard and to mention the loss in deterioration'or obsolesof a dense non-laminated structure, with the cence of the least used sizes. consequence that when made of the usual Heretofore the art has considered that it combinations of unwoven asbestos fibre and was impossible ,to devise a brake lining which bonding materials, it is readily fractured when would at the same time embody the desired 75 materially bent. It should have a curve aphard surface and dense structure (and so relaproximating that of the.brake drum which it tively inflexible) characteristics and yet comis to fit. It should be somewhat flexible so that bine the antagonistic requirements above menit may be readily fitted to the brake drums of tioned and avoid the various objections to the the ordinary .car and not require the garage types of prior-used linings. In. our liningwe owner to keep a large stock of sizes. It should have accomplished this result. Broadly speakhold rivets. It should be hard and dense and ing we provide a brake lining strip which has yet not materially deform in cross-section when the desired surface hardness, dense structure Slightly fi se requirements are so (11- and heat-resisting qualities and which is ground 30 verse and apparently unreconcilable that it has t a, uniform thickness and with a circumferbeen customary to use brake linings which sacentially-continuous flat outer surface, which rifice some of these features, in other words to may be supplied in rolled-up form, 1. e. in p y ompromise structures. separated convolutions, with curvatures app ox T e eat majority of b a edrums of presentimating those of standard size brake drums and '35 y automobiles a y from t n to e tee ch which has such an inter-particle arrangement in diameller- A band of asbestos c,with and internal stress-balance as produces an inor without a wire mesh reinforcement,which is herent set in the convolute form while being readily flexible nd so can be roll d up, prosomewhat flexible and resilient so that it may vides a construction fr m which any desired be slightly bent without cracking to fit the va- 40 length may be cut, and is readily flexible to fit rious sizesof brake drums. A strip can be cut y Size brake drum; u as it is y fle therefrom which will almost fit any standard it doesnot have the hard friction surface and d d can be lightly flexed to fit accurately dense structure which is desirable in a brake without cracking or substantial deformation. lining, It 50011 Wears t- The repair shop therefore has available brake 45 On the contrary, linings which have the delining in rolled-up form which has the desirable sired friction surface and dense structure are characteristics of dense structure, very hard surwell adapted to retain rivets and have a conface, ability well to retain rivets and alreadys de ab Wearing life, b t W C ack if mate y curved shape, without. the necessity of stockbent. ing the various lengths and curves which may 50 If they e a d a d den e and a in be needed. This also relieves him of the neces- St a Pieces, it is impossible o fi them to 1 sity of supplying inferior brake material if he standard curvatures of brake drums without does not careto carry a special stock of various the necessary flexure developing fractures or sizes of previously-shaped strips. high spots such as cause the brakes to squeak. We are aware that our invention may be 55 When such a piece is bent materially, the outer made in various embodiments and produced by process steps other than those hereafter particularly described. We have in the following description set forth one illustrative structure and process by which our improved results may be secured.

In the drawing Figure l is a strip, made as herein contemplated, in permanent convolute form; and

Figure 2 is a transverse section through this strip.

The strip may be formed out of a composition of rubber and asbestos, or some other suitable friction material preferably of a fibrous nature, together with such other ingredients as may be desired. Such composition may be shaped to a desired strip form, ground accurately to size and shape, formed into the desired convolute shape and then vulcanized to the desired degree of hardness e. g., so as to give a permanent but somewhat flexible set in convolute form, i. e., so that it will assume a convolute form even if slightly flexed and released.

Various compositions may be employed, but as an example we may take Pounds Rubber 10 Asbestos fibre 46 Magnesium carbonate 4 Litharge 10 Barytes 25 Sulphur 5 With the above may be used any suitable rubber solvent which gives the desired plasticity for molding.

The proportions and ingredients of course may be varied to suit conditions, but they should be such as will when treated as hereafter described, produce a hard-surfaced, dense-structured material. The above material is mixed, e. g. in the usual dough mixer, and is then called pulp. It is like putty with the fibres incorporated in it and distributed throughout the mass.

The pulp is then formed into a strip 1 of cross-section slightly larger than. is required in the finished strip. This may be accomplished by any suitable process such as rolling, cutting, extruding or otherwise. We prefer to extrude the pulp through a die which has a smoothsurfaced rectangular opening and which will form the strip into the desired cross-sectional shape. The extrusion process (well known in various arts and therefore not necessary to be described more particularly here) has several advantages which are important in brake lining material or the like whether made in convolute shape or molded accurately to fit the drum and shoe with which it is to be used. The extrusion process, however, as applied to the production of brake lining generally does not constitute a part of the invention claimed herein b"t is the subject matter of a co-pending application of George A. Novak, Serial No. 287,046, filed June 20, 1928, Patent No. 1,785,701, issued December 16, 1930. However, the extrusion process is possessed of certain advantages which make it peculiarly adapted to the production of brake lining in convolute form according to the present invention. In particular the fact that the fibers within the strip are in random arrangement lying in all directions, gives to the material an integrity and a freedom from any lines of cleavage which is particularly important when the hard vulcanized material is flexed to adapt it to different sizes of brake shoes or drums; whereas the fact that near the surface of the material the fibers lie more uniformly in a longitudinally direction gives a maximum strength, resistance to wear and coefficient to friction. This longitudinal orientation at the surface of the strip is a result of thetroweling action of the sides of the die when the material is pushed over them during the extrusion and is therefore almost entirely a surface effect which does not lessen the random arrangement of the fibers in the interior of the strip. The advantage of such a strip is in contrast particularly with the type of hard brake lining which is made by the accretion method and is therefore essentially a series of thin laminations with relatively very little interlocking of the fiber between the laminations. The flexing of such a strip which sets up unequal stresses of the material tends to cause a cleavage along the lines of the laminations thus limiting more closely than with an extruded lining the extent to which the strip may be flexed to adapt it to various sizes of drums.

The strip when extruded should be of such thickness that. it may be considerably reduced by the press-curing step hereafter mentioned.

The strip should then be dried, for about six hours at approximately 240 F. more or less depending on the composition. It may then be shaped to substantially the cross-section desired by passing the pulp through suitable pressing rolls'such as the well-known Blackrock" calender. A wire fabric 2 may also be added. Preferably this fabric is of woven asbestos-covered wire. The pulp is forced into its interstices but soas to leave the fabric exposed on one surface.

The strip should then be compacted and softvulcanized or press-cured to the extent necessary to give it body and the coherence sufficient to enable it to be handled. This may be done in any well-known type of follower" mold which exerts a pressure of 1000 or 1500 pounds and is suitably heated. The pressure reduces its thickness and compacts the material. It is not necessary to specify the degree of heat or the length of time the material is subjected thereto, as this will depend on the composition of the pulp. It is an operation'well known in rubber manufacture. No further instructions as to this need be given to a person skilled in the art.

The strip is then bent around, with the wire fabric (if used) on the inner face, into the desired final curved shape. This is preferably the convolute form as shown in Figure 1 and with its curves approximating those of standard brake drums. This may readily be done, for in its soft-vulcanized condition the material is relatively soft and flexible, and the necessary flexure need not set up any such stresses as will materially deform the strip from a perfectly smooth surface.

This strip in convolute form is then vulcanized in any suitable manner to the desired degree of hardness. This final vulcanization may be carried to any degree necessary to accomplish the result desired. The heat should preferably be gradually applied. This serves initially to softenthe composition somewhat and allow the par ticles to rearrange themselves so that internal stresses are substantially eliminated or balanced. When the vulcanization is completed, the strip is hard. We prefer to vulcanize the strip to a hardness which will give a Brinell test of 10 to 25 when using a 3000 kilogram load on a flatsurfaced round foot of inch diameter with reading taken 30 seconds after load is applied. The vulcanized material is slightly flexible and resilient, however, and the internal stresses are substantially balanced. The consequence is that the strip then has a permanent set in convolute form and the curves approximate those of standard brake drums. While it is still slightly flexible,enough so'that it can be bent slightly to fit the drum to which it is appplied,it should preferably be as hard as possible without causing the material to crack until it is flexed materially beyond what is required to accommodate it to the range of brake drums for which it is intended.

We prefer to carry the vulcanization to an extent such that the strip is flexible without cracking to a curvature having a radius of about 20 times its finished thickness but not to one having a radius of 10 times its thickness. The degree of hardness of course may be varied by the extent of vulcanization employed.

The strip may then be ground perfectly smooth on one or both: sides by passing it through a suitable grinding machine which reduces it to the uniform thickness desired and makes the friction surface, or surfaces, perfectly smooth and true. If an asbestos-covered wire fabric is used as shown in the drawing, grinding the strip on both faces results in a brake lining which may be of different coefficient of friction on its inner face than on its outer face. Consequently, the lining may be used either upon an external or an internal braking surface. In order to insure a perfectly smooth surface, the strip may,

if desired, be rolled between rolls which have a clearance which is somewhat concave-convex of the strip, the wire fabric being placed in the present example next to the convex roll. This rolling may be omitted if desired, and the grinding of the. strip may be carried out just previous to the hard vulcanization step if considered preferable for any reason.

The curvatures approximate those of the drums to which the lining is to be applied, so a section of the length desired can be cut from it and readily fitted by the repair man. The heat generated by the use of the material in the ordinary braking operation will serve further to vulcanize and harden the composition.

We are aware that our invention may be carriedout in various embodiments and by various steps other than those abovementioned and the steps need not, in all cases, follow each other in the order mentioned above. We therefore do not limit ourselves to the specific construction or steps or particular composition above described.

We claim:

1. A brake lining which comprises a plastic composition, including a refractory friction material, hardened in a convolute strip of more than one turn and having a uniform thickness throughout, the hardening being to such, degree that the strip may be bent without fracture to any curvature between the radii of 5 and 9 inches, but not to a curvature of radius 10 times its thickness.

2.A brake lining which comprises a rubber composition including a refractory friction material and hard vulcanized in a convolute strip of more than one turn and of uniform thickness throughout, the vulcanization being to a degree short of complete. hardening such that the strip may be bent to any curvature between the radii of 5 and 9 inches, but not to a curvature of radius of 10 times its thickness. 3. A brake lining comprising a composition including a fibrous material and a hardened binder, the fibres thereof being in random arrangement substantially without cleavage, but having predominantly longitudinal arrangement, the composition being in convolute strip form with'more than one turn in the convolution and the hardness of the strip being such that any turn thereof may be bent to any curvature between the radii of 5 and 9 inches, but not to a curvature of radius of 10 times its thickness. L

4. A brake lining which comprises a composition including a refractory friction material 110 and a hardened binder, in strip form, ground to a uniform thickness, with a oircumferentially continuous, fiat surface, and in a convolution of more than one turn, the curvatures of which vary within the range of radii between 5 and 115 9 inches, said strip being capable of bending to any curvature within said range, and the hardness of said strip being between 10 and 25 Brinell, tested with a 3000 kg. load on a inch round flat-surfaced foot applied for 30 seconds. 190

5. A brake lining strip which comprises a hardened composition including rubber, a refractory friction material, and vulcanizing ingredients adapted to convert the rubber into hard rubber upon heating, said composition being incompletely cured in a convolute form of more than one turn, so that it is still capable of flexing to any curvature between the radii of 5 and 9,inches and being capable of further vulcanization to increased hardness by heat de- 130 veloped by friction during use.

HAMILTON ABERT. ALBERT WHII'ELAW. 

